The Imperial Palace in Japan has fired an employee for stealing cash totaling 3.6 million yen ($24,900) from Emperor Naruhito and his family over more than a year.
In an announcement on Thursday, the Imperial Household Agency identified the suspect as an employee in their 20s who was one of about 80 attendants assigned to the palace or the agency building to serve the daily needs of Naruhito and his family.
The case came to light in March during an internal investigation by the IHA that started in January when an assistant manager of the department noticed a discrepancy between the cash in the safe and the accounting book.
When an agency official detected the loss of 30,000 yen ($207) in late March, the suspect, who just ended an overnight duty, was asked about the matter. He admitted stealing cash due to financial difficulty, the Imperial Household Agency added.
The employee admitted to stealing a total of 3.6 million yen on a number of occasions from November 2023 to late March this year. He later returned the money by mid-April.
The theft is an embarrassment for the royal household and officials said it’s been unheard of in modern history.
The money was part of a 324 million yen ($2.24 million) annual budget allocated as living expenses for the emperor, his wife Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and Naruhito’s parents — former Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
The IHA said it had filed a criminal complaint to the palace police and formally dismissed the employee. The assistant manager in his 40s, who initially noticed the cash irregularity in January, was given a one-month salary cut over his lax accounting management, the IHA said.
IHA chief Yasuhiko Nishimura said the theft by the employee as a public servant and a staff serving the Imperial family was “unthinkable” and “extremely regrettable,” and apologized to the emperor and his family, NHK public television reported.
He pledged to tighten discipline among the palace staff, according to media reports.